The Press., 1887-08-25
Harrisburg corr. New York Sum-
 A DOUBLE LIFE.

''I read in the Sun recently, ? said a resident of Crawford county, this state, 'the account of the curious impairment of memory reported ill the case of Miss Houtallng, the Chicago young lady, and while it must be that the case is an extra ordinary one, there died in Crawford coun- ty few years ago a lady who presented one far more extraordinary aud mysterious in its nature. Her name was Mary Key mold. She was a daughter of John Key holds, one of the early settlers of the coun- ty. She was at the age of 16 young lady of superior accomplishments and of viva cious nature. At that age she was pros trated with & nervous disease which left her blind, deaf and speechless. She re- mained in that condition for about month, when she recovered her sight and hearing. Her mind was as strong as ever, and she had recovered her physical health and strength, when one morning about two months after regaining her sight and hearing she awoke with all recollection of everything she ever knew entirely gone. Her speech, however, had returned to her, but her utterances were imperfect and strangely constructed. Her mind was ap- parently as sound as it it had ever been, but she did not know her parents nor any
 
 name a single letter of the alphabet, and had forgotten the use of written language. She had always been a famous housekeep- CT, but all her knowledge of domestic em- ployment was gone. She did not know the use of a broom, and kettle boiling on the stove was q source of wonder to her. She remained in this strange condition for over q month, when she awoke with all her original consciousness. She had pass ed out of her period of lost memory during the night. All remembrance of the weeks she had been i'll that state was gone. The period was an entire blank to her. All the knowlt dge and attainments which she had forgotten during that period returned to her. While she had been iu the state of second nature, as it might be called, va- rious things had been taught to her. Sue remained in her natural condition only three weeks when she lapsed into the oth- CT state again, and, as before, forgot every thing pertaing to her natural state. What she had learned during her first lapse came back to her in the second. The three weeks lucid interval was blank to her.
 "These lapses continued at irregular in- tervals for a period of twenty five years. Some time she would be in one condition for months, and then change for months into the other. Sometimes the lapses would be but for few hours. Most of the time she remained in the second con- dition. The changes always took place in her sleep. In passing from her unnatural into her natural life no evidence of the change was perceptible, but in changing to the other way her sleep was such that nothing could awaken her until the trans. position of natures had taken place. The sleep was, in fact, almost suspended ami nation, and frequently it lasted twenty four hours. As she had no consciousness when in one condition of ever having been in the other it was long before she came to realize it through the statements and af. firmations of her friends. When she came to fully appreciate the situation in which she was placed, she could foretell days be- fore the dreaded change to the second con dition came that 1t was approaching, and at first she always bade all her relatives and friends fearful farewell, fearing that she might never awaken from the long, death-like sleep. As the years passed however, and the transitions became ia. miliar to her, their approach was no long CT attended by the solemn apprehensions.
 "In the course of time Miss Reynolds acquired as much knowledge in her un. natural state as she had iIi her natural. Her brother taught her to write in the former. He gave her a sentence which he had written to copy. She took the pen and copied the words, but wrote with her left hand and from right to left. A singu. lar circumstance connected with her was that anything could be taught to her with greater ease while she was in her lapsed condition, and that in that condition she wrote charming verses, gift she did not command in her natural state. Likewise she was of a most imaginative nature in her second condition, with wit extremely keen and possessed remarkable conversa tional powers. In her natural state she was quiet and thoughtful. She formed most peculiar and strong dislikes in hel lspses against those who were her best and most intimate friends in her natural life. For more than twenty years she was g teacher in the public schools of Crawford county. For several years before her death she had lived without lapsing into her sec ond, or unnatural condition. Relatives oi hers live in the vicinity of Meadville and Huntsville yet, believe"